A traffic warden who took his own life was terrified of losing his job as he waited to hear whether he was going to be charged with assaulting a youth.

Thomas Patton, 55, struggled with mental health problems and was diagnosed with suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder following his military service in Northern Ireland.

An inquest at Bradford Coroner's Court heard he was estranged from his wife Julie, a nursery cook, and other members of his family.

The dad-of-two had a history of abusing alcohol and in 2014 broke his son Nathan's right arm and assaulted his wife and son's girlfriend following a Christmas Day lunch at the marital home in Linthwaite after a row about leftovers from dinner.

On the evening of 6 November last year Mrs Patton received a phone call from him saying he had received a letter from police "and that he had been charged with assault and that he would go to prison.

"He sounded depressed and upset." A voice message left on her phone at 9pm said: 'Love you forever, bye.'

A high risk missing person's search was made during which the police found him hanged at a children's playground in Slaithwaite.

Life was pronounced extinct at just after midnight on 7 November.

A search was then made of his home at Manchester Road, Linthwaite.

A note on the dining room table to his wife was found which read: 'All I can say is sorry for everything. You will get over this. Time is a great healer. Sell up and move on. Tom. XX.'

A toxicological analysis performed afterwards revealed he had alcohol in his blood equivalent to nine pints of beer or 17 single measures of spirits.

Assistant coroner John Broadbridge heard that he had become very isolated and had started heavy drinking prior to his death

He said: "He had quite a bit of alcohol sloshing about in his system.

"There's evidence that he had resumed that heavy consumption prior to his death.

"He confessed to medics he was drinking 26 units of alcohol a day, two to six pints and some rum daily, a man not unused to large consumption."

The court heard from Sandra Keen, who conducted a serious incident investigation on behalf of South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.

She said he had been keen to address his anger-related issues but a face-to-face appointment on 31 October identified various problems including "the ongoing police investigation and youths damaging property in his area."

HM Coroners: Bradford (Image: Reach PLC)

Regarding a disciplinary hearing he attended she said: "He had had to leave the last meeting after two hours because he was feeling physically sick. He was very isolated, heaving drinking."

His practitioner identified the risk as low but "we knew the risk could increase from day-to-day as a result of information from police and his employers."

Mr Broadbridge concluded that: "Thomas Patton died because of suicide. The evidence is clear."